A History of the County of Somerset

Dunster, Minehead and Carhampton

Authoritative and detailed account of the history of important Somerset parishes, from prehistory to the present day.

This volume describes the history of the eastern part of Carhampton Hundred. Bounded by the Bristol Channel and Exmoor, with steep hills forming a backdrop to a coastal plain, the area has at its heart the picturesque village of Dunster, one of the county's most enduring tourist attractions. Its castle was home to the Mohuns and their successors the Luttrells, the area's dominant landowners. From the early fifteenth century the port of Dunster was overtaken in prosperity by Minehead, which thrived on trade with Wales, Ireland, Europe and the West Indies and, from the nineteenth century, from the tourists brought by steamer and from 1871 by railway; from the early twenty-first century Minehead, best known as a genteel seaside resort and from 1962 for its holiday camp, has served as the commercial hub of the area. The neighbouring parish of Carhampton includes the small resort of Blue Anchor; on the higher ground, the parishes of Timberscombe, and most of Rodhuish and Withycombe lie within the Exmoor National Park.